02/16/15 02/16/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> from pacifica this is democracy now! >> yes, it is freedom of speech, and the turning point is but. why do we still say but when -- a gunman attacks a copenhagen >> a gunman attacks a copenhagen cafe hosting a discussion on art, blasphemy and freedom of expression.

we will speak to the feminist activist inna shevchenko who was speaking when the deadly attack began. we will also speak to leading european muslim scholar tariq ramadan. then as the fbi probes the killing of three muslim students in north carolina and an islamic center in houston burns down, we look at a new report "fear, inc. 2.0.: the islamophobia network's efforts to manufacture hate in america." >> this is how the islamophobia network operates. a group provides the money. today, more than 57 lane dollars. that money is given to tightly net organizations that rely heavily on a handful of so-called experts. >> and we will go to north carolina where thousands gathered saturday in raleigh for what organizers are calling "the largest civil rights rally in the south since the selma to montgomery march in 1965."

>> when extremist politicians underfund public education, we have a heart problem. >> all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. egypt has bombed what it calls islamic state targets in libya after the group released a video showing the beheading of 21 coptic christians in libya. the victims are led on to a beach dressed in orange jumpsuits like the prisoners at guantanamo bay. they are then beheaded one by one. the lead executioner points his knife at the camera and delivers a message to what he calls the "crusaders." >> recently, you have seen us on the hills, chopping off the

heads, filled with spite. today, we're on the land of islam, libya, sending another message. crusaders, safety for you will only be wishes, especially when you are fighting us altogether. >> the prisoners were all migrant workers from egypt kidnapped over the past two months. egypt has declared a week of mourning. another group of egyptian workers were kidnapped in libya over the weekend. the video is the first to be released showing an isis beheading outside of its strongholds in syria and iraq. isis is one of several militant groups that have emerged inside libya since the u.s.-backed ouster of my market off he -- omar qaddafi in 2011. a ceasefire has taken effect in eastern ukraine following last week's agreement between kiev and moscow. sporadic fighting has broken out

in several areas. the ukrainian military says separatists have continued attacks while the rebels accuse , ukrainian forces of deploying heavy artillery. the pact calls for an end to attacks and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front lines. ukraine says it won't withdraw some. the u.n. security council has called on houthi rebels to give up control of yemen's government. the houthis dissolved parliament earlier this month and named a new president after forcing the ouster of president abd rabbu mansour hadi. the british ambassador to the u.n., mark lyall grant, called for hadi to be restored to office. >> today, we have made clear that those who use violence and intimidation to try to dictate yemen's future are undermining the security of all yemeni citizens and are eroding the political progress made since

2011. the houthis must take responsibility for their actions and stop using violence and coercion as political tools. they must ensure the immediate and safe release for president hadi, the prime minister mentors -- members of the cabinet from house arrest. >> the measure does not authorize military action to ensure its enforcement. the u.n. warned last week yemen is on the brink of civil war and political collapse. the u.s. has escalated military operations in afghanistan , despite a formal end to its combat mission in december. according to "the new york times," american special operations forces have carried out a significant increase in night raids over the past several months. the nato occupation declared an end to combat operations in december, but the u.s. secretly expanded its role to ensure american troops continue fighting. u.s. forces have directly engaged in combat roles during joint operations with afghan counterparts.

afghanistan's recently elected president, ashraf ghani, has eased restrictions on night raids imposed by his predecessor, hamid karzai. danish police have shot and killed a man they say carried out attacks on a synagogue in an event promoting free speech in copenhagen. local media identified the sus back -- suspect as omar al-hussein. two other people have also been charged with aiding him. the presumed target of the attacks, lars vilks, has received death threats for depicting the prophet mohammad on a dog. he was unharmed, but a danish film director was shot dead and three police officers injured. hours later, the gunmen attacked a synagogue, killing a guard outside and injuring another two police officers. the attacks in copenhagen come a month after gunmen attacked the

peers offices of the french magazine charlie hebdo, killing 12 people. we will have more the denmark shootings after the headlines. president obama has condemned the murders of the three muslim students in chapel hill, north carolina last week. in a statement, obama called the killings "brutal and outrageous ." adding "no one in the u.s. should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship." the fbi has announced a probe as a local police investigation continues, the suspected gunman, craig stephen hicks, frugally posted antireligious comments on his facebook page. on friday, dozens of muslims paid tribute to the victims in a car gathering outside the white house. >> it could've been any of us. it could of been my fiancée were my mother. what hurts the most, they were not killed for any other reasons other than the fact they were

muslims. >> on saturday, the brother of shooting victim deah barakat join thousands of people in the capital of raleigh for the moral march will stop organizers called it the largest civil rights lap -- rally in the south the selma to montgomery march in 1965. more from north carolina later in the broadcast. we will be speaking with reverend barber. democratic governor tom wolf of pennsylvania has issued a moratorium on the death penalty in his state. wolf cited what he called an error prone justice system and inherent biases in the court process. the moratorium will remain in place until a task force on capital punishment submits a final report. in a statement, amnesty international said -- "pennsylvania is now moving toward the national consensus that the death penalty is broken, costly and needs to be abolished." an indian immigrant has filed suit over an alleged assault from an alabama police officer that left him partially paralyzed.

sureshbhai patel was walking outside of his son's home in the city of madison, alabama when , someone called police reporting a suspicious person. in an incident caught an video an officer who arrived on the scene throws patel to the ground. >> let me talk to you real quick. come here. what is going on sir? do what? let's go. you are all right. stand up. stand up. can you stand up? >> he can't speak any english. >> patel, who speaks no english, was severely injured and underwent spinal surgery.

his lawsuit says race factored into his mistreatment. the officer has been charged with assault and police officials have apologized. the fbi is also investigating. hundreds of people rallied in washington state this weekend over the fatal police shooting of a migrant worker from mexico. antonio zambrano-montes was allegedly throwing rocks at police when they shot him dead. video shows zambrano falling to the sidewalk with his arms in the air after police open fire. police sergeant acknowledged montes was unarmed and said the killing is being investigated. >> he was not armed with a gun or knife. we all know, based on the videos we have watched on social media, at one point at least he did have a rock in his hand and threw it. the investigation continues on whether he was armed with a rock at the time that he was shot.

that is the ongoing investigation. >> zambrano worked in an apple orchard after migrating to the u.s. a decade ago. the mexican government has condemned his death as a "disproportionate use of lethal force." new england has been hit with its fourth major snowstorm in less than a month. two feet of snow fell in some areas, adding up to six feet already on the ground, and february has are to become boston's snowiest month since records began in 1872 with reports the city has now reported more snow in three weeks in chicago has an entire winter. climate scientist michael mann noticed -- noted the link between snowfall and, change, tweeting -- a mexican national has been awarded half $1 million settlement for being shot in the back by u.s. border patrol agent

in 2010. the agent initially acknowledged romo was unarmed, but later said he threatened to attack him with a rock. the agent has since been imprisoned for working with drug cartels. the u.s. government was ordered to pay for castro's medical costs and loss of income over four decades. a judge reduced his damages by 10% because he was illegally crossing the border when he was shot. a top advisor has confirmed president obama faked his opposition to same-sex marriage in order to help his 2008 presidential campaign. in a new book, campaign strategist david axelrod says obama was always for marriage equality, but lied in order to win votes. obama reportedly said -- "i'm just not very good at b.s.'-ing." but near the end of obama's first term, axelrod said the president told aides he would no longer hide his true position. >> there is no doubt his

sympathies were very much on the side of allowing gay couples to marry. he also recognized that the country wasn't there yet, and that we needed to bring the country a long. this was always the most taxing issue, because there were some part of him that so wanted to say, you know what? i just don't believe this. in 2012 or really, 2012, he basically said, look i'm telling you, if i get asked the question if i were state legislator and how would i vote, i'm going to say, i would vote for gay marriage. you guys better prepare for it. >> after claiming his position had evolved, president obama declared his public support for marriage equality in 2012, becoming the first president to do so. protests were held across bahrain.

opposition activists began protesting on february 14, 2011, amidst political upheaval in egypt and tunisia. the protest were crushed by martial law and u.s. backed of saudi arabian forces. the rain is a key u.s. government ally in the gulf coast -- posting the navy's fifth fleet. and those are some of the headlines this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> welcome to our listeners and viewers around the country and around the world. >> it is record cold today in new york. i just flew in from colorado this morning. colorado feels like miami beach compared to new york. we were talking about freezing weather come the likes of which we haven't seen in many, many years. >> and that includes alaska studios as well. on my way here this morning

minus 16. unbelievable. danish police have shot and killed a man that they believe carried out attacks on a synagogue and an event promoting free speech in copenhagen on saturday. local media identified the suspect as 22-year-old omar al-hussein who was born and raised in denmark. according to danish tv2 television, he had been released from prison just weeks earlier. danish police have also charged two other people with aiding the gunman. the bloodshed began on saturday when a gunman attempted to shoot his way into a cafe hosting a discussion on art, blasphemy and freedom of expression. the bbc aired audio from the event at the moment of the shooting. >> i realize that every time we talk, there will always be -- yes, it is freedom of speech but. and the turning point is "but." why did we still say "what" when -- [gunfire]

>> your listing to an audio recording from saturday shooting in copenhagen. that first voice you heard was inna shevchenko, a leader of the international women's protest group femen. she will join us on the show in a moment. also speaking at the event was a swedish artist lars vilks, the presumed target of the attacks who has received death threats for depicting the head of the prophet mohammad on a dog. vilks was unharmed in the attack, but a danish film director named finn norgaard was shot dead and three police officers injured. >> hours later, the gunman attacked a synagogue, killing a guard outside and injuring another two police officers. the attacks in copenhagen came a month after gunmen attacked the offices of the newspaper charlie hebdo killing 12 people. france's ambassador to denmark francois zimeray was at the cafe when saturday's attack took

place. >> i don't know if there are strong words, but this is simply what one feels when you hear bullets and see the impacts. i was very impressed today to be able to calmly see what i went through yesterday in these few seconds. in these moments, you think it is all over. you don't have any feelings. you don't think of anything but try and understand what is happening. what i understood than is the same event was taking place as in paris, and probably if the danish police did not succeed in their job, i would not be here today. >> to talk more about the copenhagen attacks, we are joined by two guests. inna shevchenko was speaking at the free speech event in copenhagen when the attack took place saturday. she is a leader of the international women's protest group femen, which often demonstrates topless against what they perceive as manifestations of patriarchy especially dictatorship,

religion, and the sex industry. she is speaking to us from paris. we are also joined by tariq ramadan, professor of contemporary islamic studies at oxford university. he is the author of a number of influential books on islam and the west including, "western muslims and the future of islam" and "in the footsteps of the prophet: lessons from the life of muhammad." professor ramadan was named by time magazine as one of the most important innovators of the 21st century. he joins us now from doha, qatar. i want to go first to our guest in paris, inna shevchenko. describe the scene on saturday. what exactly were you talking about when the shots opened fire ? explain where they came from. >> thank you for having me, first. whenever thing happened in copenhagen when terrorists entered the place, just a few seconds before, i was mentioning that very often, it is an

illusion that we can enjoy freedom of speech. i was sitting on the stage with lars vilks and one of the organizers of the event. then i mentioned the phenomena in "but" when we're talking about freedom of speech. you can hear on the record, once i mentioned that, yes, we are fine with freedom of speech, but -- then the shots started. ironically, i think, it started this event. this attack was definitely a huge "but" to our freedom of speech. >> has an established the swedish cartoonist who was on the panel with you, was he the presumed target? has that been made certain? >> police did not give us any information because they simply do not have it. lars vilks, personally explained

he thinks he was the target of the event. explained her could have been lars vilks or the reason to attack this event could up in the presence of one of those from femen -- i think right now we should not talk about who exactly personally was the target. the target was the idea. the idea that all of us will -- freedom of speech and freedom of expression, being free to celebrate, love, to speak about it, to spread it out in the streets. the target of those extremists are our ideas. >> tariq ramadan, if you could respond to what has taken place now in copenhagen? we last talked you after the early of dough attack in paris

-- charlie hebdo attack in paris. >> it is the same scenario and we have taken the same clear position. i really think the target was the event itself, which is the freedom of expression and things perceived as insulting islam. what we have to say is this is betraying our principles. once again, the clear position they have to take and beyond this, i think, instead of religion on one side and people supporting freedom of expression, we need to understand [inaudible]

promoting violence against freedom of expression. for me, as a muslim, what is happening, as you were mentioning this in your headlines, what is happening in syria and libya, this is all against the principles of our religions. so the muslims should be cleared on that. at the same time, let us come together to be against use of religion to kill. but at the same time, [indiscernible] undermining the condemnation. the picture is complex. we also have to be clear about the killing of muslims, for example, 200 people have been killed in nigeria. the three people killed in north carolina.

for president obama to come and say something about it, the silence is an excerpt of all. -- unacceptable. we should not be selective in our condemnation. >> tariq ramadan, you been following the position of muslims in europe for decades. is it your sense, as some claim, that more and more young muslims in europe are turning to a more radical form of islam and also, violent acts like the one we just witnessed in copenhagen? >> i think there's something completely new that is difficult for us to understand, this attraction with social media. we have never had such a thing [indiscernible] going to bosnia or even palestine, so i don't think we

had this before. at the same time, we have to be cautious. [indiscernible] it is a tiny minority. they're are not even going to the mosques. we have to be very cautious. it might be that we have more young people being involved, but still, this is completely disconnected from the muslim community in the west. because you are asking the question trying to find justification, it is not justifiable. we need to come to some of the reasons in order to solve the problem. for example, anything that has to do with better teaching of islam.

institutionalizing the presence in the west by having a teaching vision that is clear on the things that could be accepted within adversity -- and things that are unacceptable. this formal teaching and this in between, it is not happening. on the other side, it has to do with political issues. when in europe, we're presenting they are at war with our values, the people in touch with the international same and are seeing what is happening, which international policies are promoting, are promoted by the west. we also have to be clear we're giving some value to this political analysis. around the world, people are being killed in european and western powers are involved in

wars around the world. >> inna shevchenko if you could weigh in here, also, comment on the fact this café where the free speech event took place people stayed to continue the event. is that right? afterwards? a danish film maker was killed in this attack. >> that's right. as we gathered to celebrate freedom of speech, we continued to celebrate freedom of speech with certain conditions that we all have right now. we have new conditions for being able to celebrate and enjoy freedom of speech, and we have to know that today, we can be targeted. we can hear sounds of -- around us. whenever we drove or speak enjoying freedom of speech, and

there are new conditions today. we have to accept it. what happened at that event, it was horrible. it was horrible to hear shots just behind the door where you are simply talking about being able to express whatever ideas without harming physically anybody. then we heard shots. of course, the situation was terrible and people were running and trying to hide under the tables and in the corners. then the shots finished and we understood what happened. [indiscernible] the audience was so proud to be on that side of the fight not to represent the dogmatic side

of the fight. i should mention religions do represent a part of this discussion. we were [indiscernible] millions of people expressing they represent liberalism and pluralism. we are in the middle of ideological war. unfortunately, for all of us, religion does play a big part in dogmatic types supporting it. even though, again, i'm not going to please tariq ramadan, i deftly see how many religious people also become victims of those extremists. i think we should not deny the other side of religion that is given to us today.

and forcefully, this is stuff the most peaceful side -- unfortunate, this stuff is not the most peaceful side. >> wideout you respond. >> >> [indiscernible] religious cultures were teachings, that is very superficial. i'm very, very cautious saying freedom of expression is on our site. please, i don't think you're going to solve the problem. this is the problem i have with the organization femen. your dogmatic in the way you are rejecting all religions. you don't see within religions and the religious conditions you have millions, hundreds of millions of people who are trying their best in protecting freedom of expression, so don't be like this.

by promoting this mindset, you're creating the problems not solving are trying to find solutions. once again, i would say, i'm on the side of freedom of speech. i think we have to promote -- i said this at the very beginning. i was involved in the discussion of the cartoon crisis in denmark at the very beginning. i was there. even the newspaper that published my book on the profit that you mentioned, had to publish it in danish because they wanted to show we want to give this picture we not only against. you need to find new alliances [indiscernible] open-minded people. it is open-minded people against [indiscernible]

>> inna shevchenko, could you respond to what tariq said and elaborate on the suggestion you have made that europe needs to change its policies in light of what has happened? you've spoken of ideological warfare. could you elaborate on that? >> yes, first of all caps to respond to tariq. i think what you're doing you're trying to turn my words around. [indiscernible] what is the main idea of what [indiscernible] we should all be able to express our ideas, whether you are religious or not. and to say we are rejecting all religions is definitely to be superficial, as you say. we have never rejected religious people who can carry liberal ideas, and there are plenty of them, including a lot of friends

that i have that are religious as well as muslim, who are supporting secular ideas and do agree that charlie hebdo did have the right to do mohammed. as far as i know, you don't agree that this is freedom of speech. you call it insulting. and one of your blogs, you said the terrace are victims of society. there's a big danger in her speeches. we should recognize the side of all liberals that we provide the solution and the right to believe, to think, to speak about whatever they want. religious or not. you have a right to express your ideas. you have a right to talk about that. but what we propose -- [indiscernible] even one small group of our

community do not care [indiscernible] we care much more about our ideas of respecting the rights of everybody to express their ideas. we propose a real solution. we don't fit the situation is too complex and we should just be desperate about it. we do say that we have to educate each other, that everybody has a right to love whoever, whether mohammed or obama. we have a light right to love and express our opinion and this should be respected. this right should not be criticized and named as superficial. not at all. >> professor tariq ramadan, your response? >> once again, it is a distortion of what i said.

what i said is superficial is to put religions on the side and then say, i have nothing against religious people, but against religion. i have been following many of your statements about religion and connecting religion with patriarch, a very narrow-minded people. that is fine. if we start with what you're saying, we're coming together promoting the point that it is freedom of speech. yes, freedom of speech means that if i feel insulted, that is fine. the question is not if i feel insulted, but what am i doing about it? what i'm saying, take a critical distance. i let people speak the way they want. freedom of speech doesn't mean i'm happy with all that i hear but i acknowledge people have the right to say. that is the point. you can't deny this. the question is, for he often and in discussions that we had the organization, is to be

aggressive in the way your promoting it. that is the point i am making. it is not if you say to people, i respect religious people, the reject religions, i think once again, that is the right you can say it. but it is something [indiscernible] with what i am saying, is superficial. the point i want to make, yes we have the right to mock and it should be a right. i said that. now i don't want the young guy, 22 years old, to put us in a situation where there is no way for us to have a bigger discussion. he was wrong. he betrayed the stated principles. what are the reasons that are pushing some people to go that way? >> i want to ask about some of

the reasons, some of the speculation for the reasons that people, young muslims in europe, are turning to violence. the french interior ministry does minister visited copenhagen sunday to express solidarity after the attacks that were reminiscent of those on charlie hebdo in paris. he said, more must be done to prevent vulnerable members of society from being "brainwashed" by internet propaganda. >> this morning, i saw the same sadness i witnessed back in paris in january and peoples terrified eyes, the same sadness come the same dread come this indignity, and the same mediation in the same sorrow. in the face of terrorism, we are first and foremost united i feelings like those of important democrats, those attached to democracy, to the values of the founding fathers of the european

union. when we call for more regulation for internet in order to prevent websites and blogs promoting terrorism, from brainwashing the most vulnerable citizens and our countries, and doing so efficiently, i have to say, this israel a stick. we are attacking our strategies in the face of a very acute problem and we need to do that with lucidity and to get ready to face a real threat for a long time. >> that was french interior minister bernard cazeneuve . you each have about 30 seconds to respond. inna shevchenko, could you comment on what the minister said? >> of course. we should -- . i'm afraid we have lost her. tariq ramadan, could you comment on what the mixture said -- minister said and what you think it is internet propaganda that is seducing young, vulnerable muslims in europe? >> is clear he is right on one

thing. now we know there is internet propaganda in this is attracting some of the young muslims. this is not the only reason. we also have to deal with domestic policies are you have this frustration. anyone can be used as weapon against the others. [indiscernible] when francis saying, we are not at war. you are not at war in the middle east. this is not to justify what was done, but to explain that if we don't give the reasons, we're missing the point. >> we're going to have to wrap up, though i do think perhaps we have inna at this moment. if you could respond to what the french interior minister said.

>> do you have me right now? >> yes, we hear you fine. >> sorry, sorry. generally, to say, let me still come back a little bit to the main point and to what tariq said and then go back. thing is, right now, i hear tariq ramadan is condemning violence of terrorists, i'm forced like him are doing it in the name of his religion. right now we can see how many of those terrorists [indiscernible] one of the reasons why it is happening right now, so many people, including tariq ramadan are spinning much more time to condemn cartoons of charlie hebdo than two criticize or say directly -- then to say directly to terrorists that the part of

islam that is saying you have to fight [indiscernible] clearly, they should not to say there are terrorists and not part of our community. there are a few brave muslims and great thinkers who are saying, yes, they're muslims they do represent our religion, and we should clearly say that this part of religion should be more defined --[indiscernible] >> inna shevchenko, we have to leave it there. thank you for being with us. she was speaking at the free speech event in copenhagen's krudttønden café when the attack took place saturday. a leader of the international women's protest group femen, which often demonstrates topless against what they perceive as manifestations of patriarchy

and she was joining us from paris. i want to thank professor tariq ramadan professor of , contemporary islamic studies at oxford university. speaking to us from doha, qatar. when we come back, we will look at a new report on islamophobia and the tanaka landed to speak with reverend barber who is that the moral monday's protest. this weekend, the largest protest to date against islamophobia in the south. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we are broadcasting from an extremely called new york city in the range of zero degrees fahrenheit, well, with a windchill, far below.

>> as a federal inquiry begins in the killing of three muslim students in north carolina, and an islamic center in houston texas was intentionally set on fire friday, we turn now to a new report that exposes the people who fund and generate anti-muslim sentiment in the united states. the investigation by the center for american progress is called "fear, inc. 2.0, the , islamophobia network's efforts to manufacture hate in america." >> this is how the slum a phobia network operates. a group of foundations and donors provides the money. to date, more than 50 seven lane dollars. that money is given to a selection of tightly knit organizations that rely heavily on a handful of so-called experts that orchestrate misinformation about islam. that information spreads to larger network of activists politicians, media, and more grading and echo chamber around the false idea that islam is a violent religion. >> i think the finding islam at large as a threat to estimate in

the slum a phobia, simply wrong and will lead to bad policy. >> islamophobia has real consequences. there's been a nationwide push for laws targeting muslims. in new york city, the nypd covertly monitored and met the city's muslim community in a boston, a muslim doctor was insulted after the boston marathon bombings. >> this new report is an update on a 2011 investigation we covered here on democracy now! and for more we're joined from washington, d.c. by yasmine taeb. she is co-author of, "fear, inc. 2.0.: the islamophobia network's efforts to manufacture hate in america" and the islamophobia project manager at the center for american progress. last week, she wrote an article headlined, "connecting the dots: the north carolina murders and anti-muslim hysteria." she is also an attorney specializing in national security. yasmine taeb, welcome to democracy now! talk about this new report. what have you found new in these last few years? >> thank you so much for having

me, amy. as you mentioned in 2011, releasing the first report, islamophobia report, that detailed or chronicled the tightly net network, group of funders, organizations activists elected officials and media commentators are essentially fanning anti-muslim sentiment in the united states. what we found in our new report is that this network is not only working to marginalize a community of 3 million americans are promoting discriminatory policies, but also we detailed how these policies are impacting the lives of ordinary americans. for example, we know that the effect of the anti-muslim hysteria, that this downward generates, is in an uptick in the number of hate crimes.

to give an example, for instance, in the aftermath of the hysteria that was created over the construction of the so-called ground zero mosque in new york city, hate crimes in new york city against muslims in 2010 or 300% higher than they were in 2009. again, we are seeing this now whether it was in the aftermath of the boston marathon bombings were in the aftermath of the charlie hebdo attack and the rise and isis, etc.. shedding light on this network was something that we wanted to do in 2011 in the first report but in this second report, we detailed how the policies -- discriminatory policies this network is promoting is in fact hurting the lives of average americans. >> yasmine taeb, could you say a

little bit about the recommendations that your report makes? >> sure. so as amy has mentioned and as you played the introductory video, since 2001, there has been over $57 million that is been contributed to this fear mongering, anti-muslim anti-islam organizations by very wealthy -- eight very wealthy donors. what we're trying to do and what was part of our recommendations obviously, we are trying to identify not just the funders, but also the organizations, the activists, misinformation experts and all of the politicians that are intimately connected to this network. we are trying, 1, 2 dry up the money. that is obviously our main goal. if we eliminate the money trail if we eliminate millions of dollars that are being donated

to these organizations, that essentially their living is now just to promote discriminatory policies against 3 million americans -- i mean, that itself would be profound, if we can eliminate this money trail. it also, as some of the other recommendations we may draw the report was pushing back against the discriminatory policies. for example, anti-sharia legislation. we have had more than 100 anti-sharia bills introduced in the united states, and more than 30 states. this has been primarily due to this network pushing these discriminatory policies. >> yasmine taeb, thank you for being with us co-author of the , new report, "fear, inc. 2.0.: the islamophobia network's efforts to manufacture hate in america." we will link to your report and your article, "connecting the dots: the north carolina murders

and anti-muslim hysteria." we will link it at democracynow.org. only come back, we will be joined by reverend barber in raleigh, north carolina, and massive march took place this weekend. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. >> we turn now to north carolina, where thousands gathered saturday in the capitol of raleigh for what organizers call "the largest civil rights rally in the south since the selma to montgomery march in 1965." this is the ninth mass moral march led by state naacp president reverend dr. william barber. >> with extremist politicians underfund public education and create an exit high poverty

segregated schools come in and create anorexic teacher salaries, and then produce and are up six student performance and educational development. we have a heart problem. >> among the national leaders who joined saturday's march were american federation of teachers president randi weingarten and planned parenthood federation of america president cecile richards. in an emotional address, two brothers who's siblings were killed also spoke, side by side -- farris barakat, brother of deah barakat, one of three muslim students killed in chapel hill last week in what family members call a hate crime, and pierre lacy, brother of lennon lacy, an african-american teenager who was found hung to death under suspicious circumstances last year in bladenboro, north carolina. >> words can't really describe the pain that the families have to go through, including myself.

it is a scar that runs so deep. every night, it is ongoing feeling of loss and pain and hurt and misery. and only god can bring you out of that type of misery. and i hope that god is continuing to put his hands on each and every one of y'all's lives so to and understand and see that killings like this does not belong in america. this is not what america stands for. we don't stand for killing ourselves and killing our children. our children have a future and we're supposed to stand up and fight for that future. >> by peace and blessings be upon all of you. a few days ago, my brother, his wife and my sister-in-law sister were tragically murdered in my brother's apartment in chapel hill.

i contain nothing but good has come out of it. as i was walking here, they said freedom is not free. my brother paid for it with his life. my sister and they paid for their lives because they stood up for something that was demonized in the media and something that maybe we haven't should've get to say that muslims are americans, too. [applause] >> for more, on this year's mass moral march to fight moves by republican lawmakers to attack voting rights, education, the environment, healthcare and women's rights, we go now to raleigh, north carolina, where were are joined by reverend dr. william barber, president of the state's naacp. he joins us as lawmakers there are just back in session, and republicans control the governorship and both houses of the legislature. today, the first official moral monday protest of the year will include a "people's court" to indict them for pursuing policies that have hurt the people of the state.

this kicks off a moral week of action. reverend barber, welcome back to democracy now! how many people do you believe came out this weekend? very poignant, very powerful people marching against hate. >> well, we know there were tens of thousands. we know last year's march and this year's march, and lasted there was upwards of 80,000 after we had had almost a whole year of civil disobedience in constant touring across the state. we had tens of thousands yesterday. some said 40 i don't know exactly what the numbers were. what we do know, these two years represent two things. number one, a coalition that a stay together for more than nine years, which is almost unheard of in civil rights. number two two massive marches that are bigger or have

represented the biggest marches selm in thea south particularly, around civil rights, labor rights, and justice issues. a third thing, the diversity in the march. the diversity of young people and old people. we like to say we are black, brown, white, young, old gay straight, teachers, students doctors uninsured underemployed, labor rights, business people, republicans democrats, independents, north carolina stop what we have seen is a state movement actually have national implications. we believe that is the key of the movements today, deeply based, state government movements that are deeply moral and deeply constitutional anti-poverty, antiracist pro-justice, transformative fusion movements that build from the bottom up like selma was from the bottom-up, birmingham

was from the bottom-up, this movement is from the bottom up and having an impact on only north carolina, but around the country. >> could you talk about that reverend barber, what some of the impact of this march and indeed these marches have been, and what you like to see more of? >> actually, i think the march's accommodation march and people's assembly we have been doing now for seven years and it has grown expansively, but it is one component. we have a strategy. we have the first case after shelby going to trial, 30 days of the exact date of the voting rights act that is cripple. we've had more than 200 moral monday-type events around the state am a going into local communities, even in what was so-called "republican" counties. we tend to not call them republicans because we believe these persons are not true republicans, but to party ,koch

brother extremist. we are seeing the poll numbers shift. for instance, when we started in april one that was civil disobedience, the government was at 50% and now it is at 34%. the legislature is under 19% of the polls. most of the issues, unemployment, earn income tax credit, raising taxes to support teacher pay and a number of other issues are now pulling all over 50%. when we started, there were under 40%. medicaid expansion. we've seen the governor start to talk about medicaid expansion when before he wasn't talking about it. we see have now trying to figure out how to fix teacher pay because there's been such a moral and constitutional awakening around those issues. >> reverend barber, i hate to

end this without referring to pierre lacy being there with deah barakat's brother. you have called for an independent investigation into what you call a lynching. can you briefly describe what you believe happened? >> we have called -- this young man was found on a six act eight emmett till was killed. he was found hanging, the wrong shoes, our own independent pathologist said there's no way he could of done this himself. we have called for an independent investigation and the national naacp has said the governor should step in around the case of these three young muslim students that were killed. these hate crimes are serious. we need to make sure they are investigated and justice occurs and that was that is kind of hate and violence has no place in our america. >> reverend dr. william barber president of the north carolina naacp, thank you for being with us.

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